In 1822, Turner Christian of Charles County, Virginia, gave the following slaves to his grandchildren, the petitioners: Henry, Suggy and her son, William, and Hannah and her children Charles, Suckey, Fanny, and Marsha. The grandchildren moved with their father, Tyler Hardyman, and his wife, Catherine, to Jefferson County, Alabama. In 1824, Hardyman, "surrounded by perplexing pecuniary difficulties & harassing embarrassments," sold Suggy and her children, William and Crespy, the property of his children, conveyed to them by their grandfather, "whilst they were all tender minority incapable of self protection strangers in a strange land," to Mark Harris. Octavius Spencer then purchased Suggy and her son, Jack, described by the petitioners as possessing "great value & capable of performing much service," from the estate sale of John Riley, who had purchased them from Harris. The petitioners aver that Hardyman disposed of all of their property in order to pay his debts, "stripping them of their all and have caused them to feel poverty in all its bitterness which abides with them still," leaving them in "depressed circumstances." They ask the court to nullify the sale of the slaves and recognize their rightful ownership. In addition, the petitioners argue that the slaves are "family negroes the gift of their Grandfather," having "long resided with him and with them in their father's family." They further state that they "have all that personal regard for them that is commonly felt & entertained for property of this kind by all families possessing it and it is now from motives of the highest humanity & benevolence to the negroes themselves that" they seek the recovery of the slaves. The petitioners also request compensation for the slaves' hire and an injunction preventing Spencer from selling the slaves beyond the jurisdiction of the court.
Result: Dismissed.
Or you may view all people.
Repository: Shelby County Archives, Columbiana, Alabama
